How to Eat Thai Chili Sauce (น้ำพริก) Like a Thai

7/24/2015
HowtoEatThaiChiliSauce(
)LikeaThai
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November 6, 2014 By Mark Wiens 12 Comments
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Eating Thai chili sauces in Bangkok
Since the day I was born, Ive been a lover of dips and chili sauces.
What could be better than adding more flavor, plus extra spice, to every bite?
Thats the way I like to think of it.

When I first traveled to Southeast Asia and started exploring the cuisine, I was fascinated (and I still am), with the crucial
importance of chili pastes, sauces, and dips, whichso many different dishes rely upon.
http://migrationology.com/2014/11/thainamprikchilisaucebangkok/
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Nam prik (
) vendor in Bangkok
From Sri Lankan pol sambol and lunu miris, to the full array or Indonesian sambal chili sauces, and backto my home in
Thailand, where sauces and dips are an everyday condiment.
There are hundreds of delicious Thai foods to try, and I cover most of my Thai food discoveries over on
EatingThaiFood.com. But I decided to write about this Thai meal experience right here, because chili sauces are one of my
favorite things in the world.
Im not talking about ketchup or bottled sweet and sour sauce, were talking about hand-made chili sauces, prepared with
a selection of fresh ingredients (and some fermented ingredients too).
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What is nam prik (
)?
Whatisnamprik(
)?
Nam prik (also sometimes spelled nam phrik
), is the Thai word for chili sauce, and can refer to a wide variety of
dipping sauces, most of them packed with pungent ingredients like chilies, garlic, shrimp paste, and lime juice.
Most of the time in Thailand, nam prik is eaten with a selection of boiled vegetables, fried fish (usually small deep fried
fish), omelets or boiled eggs, plus a plate of rice.
PopularityofnamprikinThailand
In Thailand, dierent types of nam prik (
) along with vegetables, sh, and rice, are an extremely common meal.
Go to any ready-madestreet food market in Bangkok, and youll find a food vendor, with a huge pile of about 15
different kinds of boiled vegetables, anda selection of red and maroon colored sauces on the side.
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Self serve your plate of boiled vegetables (pak dom

)
Its customary to walk up to the vendor, get a plate and tongs, and self-serve yourself whatever boiled vegetables (pak
dom )
and pieces of sh youd like.
The vendor will then bag everything up, and include another bag of the Thai nam prik (
) sauce that you choose, and

o youll go.
Along with takeaway vendors that sell nam prik, youll also sometimes find versions of nam prik atsit-down restaurants,
for example this southerncurry restaurant in Bangkok, or this northern Thai restaurant in Chiang Mai.
These restaurants dont really specialize specically only in nam prik, but usually serve a full menu, and oer nam prik (
) almost like an appetizer of veggies and dip.
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Look at all those things you can choose from!
Everyday,yetnotcommon?
Like I said above, nam prik is extremely common for takeaway, and also available at somesit down restaurants.
BUT for some reason, its rare to find a street food vendor, especially in Bangkok, who exclusively sells Thai nam prik chili
sauces, and offers street side tables to eat at.
Same goes for a dish like khao kluk kapi (another one of my favorites) its common to find at markets for takeaway, but
its relatively hard to find a place where you can sit down and eat it.
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One of my favorite places to eat Thai nam prik in Bangkok
WheretoeatnamprikinBangkok?
You can imagine, I was pretty thrilled to find a stall, at the base of Sukhumvit Soi 101 in Bangkok, thatsold a gorgeous
variety of nam prik, vegetables, fish, and rice, where you could sit down to enjoy the meal, without having to take it away.
The no-name street food stall, is one of the most popular stalls in the area, always attracting a crowd during the lunchtime
rush.
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Setting up for the lunch rush
They make all their Thai chili sauces, vegetables, and fried fish before arriving, and once they arrive to their base of
Sukhumvit Soi 101, they unpack everything and display the different choices in a beautiful and colorful array.
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Waiting for them to open
Even as they are setting up, a handful of people (myself included), begin to start hovering around their stall, checking to
see whats available, hoping to place an early order.
While some people choose to takeaway, they do have about 10 tables setup along the side of the sidewalk, where if youre
lucky, you can grab a seat.
Sometimes, especially during the office lunch rush hour, from about 12 noon 1 pm or so, all tables will be full. So if you
go, its wise to either get there by 11:30 am, or to go more around 2 pm, though some of the popular chili sauces will be
out by then.
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Ordering nam prik (
) is always part of the fun.
Orderingnamprik(
)
The first thing to do when you arrive to this glorious nam prik stand in Bangkok, is to place your order.
Since things can get a little hectic with all the hungry people, theres a little paper pad where you can write down your
order to makes things easier for the vendor.
However, the vendors are extremely nice, and if you dont write Thai, you can always pick your own vegetables, and then
point to the chili sauces that youd like.
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Heres what we ordered
Once youve made your order, they will bring it to your table, and youll be ready to feast.
The colors of the green vegetables, the red chili sauces, and the fried fish, make for a truly picturesque contrast of colors
its such a beautiful meal.
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A big plate of boiled vegetables (pak dom

)
You can honestly knock yourself out when it comes to picking your own boiled vegetables (pak dom ),
theres so
much to choose from.
I went with cabbage, cauliflower, eggplant, okra, morning glory, cha om (wandering wattle shoots), and some other
random vegetables that I dont even know the names of.
I didnt see any bitter melon on the day I went, but thats also something I normally enjoy eating with Thai nam pirk
sauces. Perhaps bitter melon wasnt good at the market this particular day.
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The proteins
For protein, I got a pla too tod (fried mackerel

), a few pieces of pla tod krob (crispy sh ), and nally
a small cha om kai (omelet stued with climbing wattle shoots
, and I got some on the boiled vegetable plate too).
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Pla tod krob (crispy sh )
There were other types of fried fish also available, plus fried pork, and I think they might occasionally have some types of
Thai sausages too.
When I eat Thai nam prik, I like to stick with mainly fish, and omelets, and of course all the veggies, as I really think they go
well with the chili sauces.
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Finally on to the nam prik (
Thenamprikchilisauces(
)
Ok, weve got to keep moving here, onto the chili sauces; This meal would be pretty bland without the nam prik!
This particular vendor literally has about fifteendifferent types of Thai nam prik to choose from, all of them made from a
variety of different ingredients, and each one looking spectacular.
I only wish I could have chosen all of them (for more info on types of nam prik, check out my guide here).
After some contemplation, my wife and I decided to try three different versions: nam prik kapi (
), nam prik da
daeng (
), and nam prik pla ra (
).
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Nam prik kapi (

) Shrimp paste sauce
Namprikkapi(

)
Nam prik kapi (
) is what I would call the classic, most widely available, and probably one of the overall most
beloved versions of Thai nam prik.
Kapi (
) is the Thai word for fermented shrimp paste, and thats what makes up the base of this sauce.
Its flavored with lots of chilies and lime juice to balance out the salty shrimp paste. Though it does have a shrimp flavor to
it, I think the lime juice tonesit out, and for myself, its one of my favorites.
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Nam prik da daeng (
) Red eye chili sauce
Namprikdadaeng(
)
Known as red eye chili sauce in Thai, this is one of the spicier versions.
However, I think it looks a lot spicier than it is. It was slightly spicy, but I think they used dry spur chilies, as opposed to the
hotter Thai bird chilies, so it wasnt nearly as fiery as it looked.
The nam prik da daeng (
) was very fragrant, slightly sweet, and more like a relish or paste, than a dip.
It went well with rice, fish, and the omelet.
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Nam prik pla ra (

) Fermented sh chili sauce
Namprikplara(

)
Pla ra (),
or fermented sh sauce, is a popular avor enhancer in Thai cuisine, often used in green papaya salad (som
tam pla ra).
To me it tasted like there was a bit of grilled fish in this chili sauce as well, and it also had roasted green chilies and garlic,
which added a wonderful fragrance.
The nam prik pla ra (
),
was again, nicely balanced, and it wasnt overly pungent with the fermented sh sauce.
It had a slightly cheesy avor, but along with chilies and garlic, and a hit of lime juice, it tasted wonderful.
This nam prik went especially well with the vegetables in my opinion.
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A bite of cha om kai (

) with nam prik
Howtoeatnamprik
When it comes to eating Thai nam prik (
), you have a couple of dierent choices:

Put bites on your plate, then add nam prik, and then eat with rice, or you can just grab vegetables or fish with your hand,
and dip straight into the chili sauce and take a bite.
I can seriously say that one of the things I love about Thailand is
Doubledippingisallowed.
(Double dipping is always the way to go its like refreshing and renewing extra flavor, and you should double dip too as
long as youre not sick).
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Nam prik goes so well with vegetables
Anyway, for eating the vegetables, I like to usually grab some bites, and put them on my rice, then dip into the nam prik,
and spread it over my vegetables.
This method makes it easier to get some rice mixed in with each bite.
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Dipping the pla tod krob (crispy sh ) into nam prik kapi
Other times, its nice to just dip straight in, especially with things like the crispy fish, or other thingsthat wouldnt work too
well to place on top of your rice first.
Either way your choose and I can say it will taste fantastic.
The crispy fried fish was like a giant fish cracker, completely crispy through and through, and yet, not overly oily. It was
salty, and went extremely well with everyone of the nam priks.
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Flavorful pla too tod (

mackerel)
Theplatootod(
mackerel)wasexcellenttoo.
Ive always loved small fish, theres somuch flavor packed into little fish. This mackerel was deep fried as well, slightly
crispy on the outside skin, and there was some nice moist meat on it.
My favorite chili sauce to eat with the mackerel was nam prik kapi (
), which complemented it nicely.
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This is my kind of street food
For myself, this is the type of street food I travel for, the entire experience, the combination of food and atmosphere I
was in absolute street food paradise.
ThisisexactlythetypeofmealIwouldtraveltoeat.
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Eating Thai nam prik in Bangkok
If youre interested, you can watch the full video of this meal here:
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(Or watch it on YouTube here: http://youtu.be/F0OwjlIDaFM)
Conclusion
Thai nam prik chili sauces in Thailand are so common,I think they are not always given the attention they deserve in Thai
cuisine.
My wife Ying (shes Thai) admitted that nam prik (
) is such an everyday market food, that she hardly would ever think
of sitting down to only eat nam prik at a street food stall (not talking about at home).
Nam prik (
) is typically bought for takeaway, or eaten sort of like a garnish or appetizer, at some nicer sit down
restaurants, but accompanied with other dishes as well.
Its very rare to nd a Thai street food stall, where you can sit down and exclusively eat nam prik (
).
For myself, nam prik makes one of my favorite Thai meals.
I absolutely lovethe fresh combinationof boiled vegetables, fried fish, and rice, paired with spicy, pungent, and flavorful
chili sauces.
Howyoucaneathere:
Open hours: 11:30 am about 3 pm Tuesday Friday(but just so you know, this is street food, so sometimes they are
closed without warning)
Prices: Our full meal here, everything pictured plus 2 plates of rice, cost 130 THB (about $4)
How to get there: The place is located right at the base of Sukhumvit Soi 101 in Bangkok, and its really easy to get there,
almost right below Punnawithi BTS station. Take the BTS skytrain to Punnawithi, exit #1, and once you go down the stairs,
youll need to make a u-turn to go back to Soi 101. Restaurant will be on your left hand side, about 20 meters down the
road, along the gate of Hua SengHong Chinese restaurant.
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Comments
De'Jav says
November 8, 2014 at 6:20 pm
Cant go wrong with put some spice on the foods. The food looks amazing and fresh. I cant wait to go to Thailand.
Reply
Mark Wiens says

November 10, 2014 at 7:22 am
Yes, for sure, hope you can visit Thailand soon.
Reply
Mike | Earthdrifter says

Youre in Salivation City Mark. For price, quality, taste and nutritious value, Thailands gotta be the number one
street food country on the planet.
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Reply
Charis says
That crispy fried fish making me crazy. Want to taste that.That food really looks very delicious.
Reply
Mark Wiens says

December 2, 2014 at 12:52 pm
Thank you for reading Charis!
Reply
Adam says
Out of all the spicy food in the world, Thailand seems to do it best. From nit noi to suicide hot, you can have it all in
this country!
Reply
Mark Wiens says

Thats about right Adam!
Reply
Ken says
I like Thailand dishes, terribly hot and spicy. You should try it.
Reply
Mark Wiens says

26/28
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Mark Wiens says
)LikeaThai

Good to hear that Ken.
Reply
Jo says
May 20, 2015 at 5:13 am
This post about sauces was so mouthwatering! Thank you, thank you. Ill be heading there in 2 weeks.
Ps Do you know anywhere thats serves good Pla Sailit?
Reply
Mark Wiens says

May 24, 2015 at 6:16 am
Thank you Jo, good to hear youll be coming to Thailand soon. Hmm, usually they are just served at street
food stalls. You might try Or Tor Kor Market.
Reply
Trackbacks
Authentic Thai Nam Prik Kapi Recipe (

) says:
February 8, 2015 at 8:36 pm
[] There are two methods to eating nam prik kapi, which I explained in more detail here. []
Reply
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7/24/2015

Eating Thai chili sauces in Bangkok

Thats the way I like to think of it.

What is nam prik (

Self serve your plate of boiled vegetables (pak dom

) sauce that you choose, and

) almost like an appetizer of veggies and dip.

Look at all those things you can choose from!

One of my favorite places to eat Thai nam prik in Bangkok

Setting up for the lunch rush

Waiting for them to open

Ordering nam prik (

) is always part of the fun.

Heres what we ordered

A big plate of boiled vegetables (pak dom

For protein, I got a pla too tod (fried mackerel

Pla tod krob (crispy sh )

Finally on to the nam prik (

), and nam prik pla ra (

Nam prik kapi (

Nam prik da daeng (

) Red eye chili sauce

Nam prik pla ra (

A bite of cha om kai (

), you have a couple of dierent choices:

Nam prik goes so well with vegetables

Flavorful pla too tod (

), which complemented it nicely.

This is my kind of street food

Eating Thai nam prik in Bangkok

(Or watch it on YouTube here: http://youtu.be/F0OwjlIDaFM)

Breakfast Curry, Or Tor

Thai Curry in Bangkok,

PHOTO: Red Eye Chili

Kor Market, & Chokchai Wan Thai): The

Thai Desserts (Khanom

Market and Delicious

Paradise The Little

So Good You Have to

Chili Sauce (Day 10)

Town of Amphoe Phon

Play Musical Chairs To

Mark Wiens says

Mike | Earthdrifter says

Mark Wiens says

Mark Wiens says

Mark Wiens says

Mark Wiens says

December 2, 2014 at 12:28 pm

Mark Wiens says

Authentic Thai Nam Prik Kapi Recipe (

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <ahref=""title=""><abbrtitle=""><acronymtitle=""><b><blockquotecite=""><cite>

Confirm you are NOT a spammer

Mark has been featured in

Get email updates (its FREE!)

Marks food fund

Are you new here?

Support our videos and blogs - Click

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Home Blog New? Start Here About Me Resources My Guides Contact Me

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